Berkeley, Calif. (May 20, 2018)- Tortosa gave jockey Catalino Martinez his second stakes win in two weeks with a victory in the $75,000 Alcatraz Stakes for 3-year-olds racing a mile on the turf at Golden Gate Fields.
Tortosa sat at the back of the field for the first five furlongs before circling the field on the far turn and outfinishing second place finisher Unpossible and third place rival Respect the Hustle down the stretch. The son of Cape Blanco broke his maiden three starts ago and won an allowance race two races back before earning his third win in a row in The Alcatraz.
“I was sitting in a perfect spot early,” said winning pilot Catalino Martinez. “By the three-eighths pole, I went wide but was full of horse. In the stretch, I hit him a couple of times and he took off. Winning trainer] Jose [Bautista] has done a wonderful job with this horse.”
Tortosa was bred by his owners, Edward and Theresa DeNike, and has earned $94,185 from 3 wins and 3 seconds in 8 lifetime starts.
“He’s a horse my owners and I have always been looking forward to seeing run. He’s a nice horse,” said winning conditioner Jose Bautista. “”We proved today that he is at a top level and that is where we want to be.”
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